Walk to serve as reminder that brain health matters

There is a new group that has emerged from tragedy that Sam Schwartz wants more people to be aware of.

Schwartz of Greenfield experienced the loss of his daughter by suicide in April of this year. He, along with some other family members, have started a cause called “Brain Health Matters.” The group’s inaugural event is the “Say Something!” Suicide and Prevention Awareness Walk .

The walk is a free event for anyone who wishes to participate. The group has gathered several partners that will be present with important information and resources related to Suicide Prevention. The event is dog friendly; participants are asked to have their dogs leashed and to clean up after them.

The “Say Something!” walk will be held rain or shine, on Saturday Sept. 9, starting and finishing at Greenfield United Methodist Church, 108 SW 5th Street Greenfield. Registration starts at 9 a.m. with the walk beginning promptly at 10 a.m.

Worldwide and nationally, September is designated as Suicide Awareness Month. Nationally, Suicide Prevention and Awareness Week runs Sept. 10-16 this year.

Recently the Greenfield City Council designated September as  Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that suicide rates increased 36% between 2000 and 2021. In 2021, there was an average of one suicide death every 11 minutes in the United States. It was among the top 9 leading causes of death for those 10-64 and was the second leading cause of death for those in the 10-14 and 20-34 age groups.

“We want to spread hope to those dealing with suicidal thoughts. We want them to  know there are resources available for them and their loved ones. We are aware there are a lot of people struggling in the world today with depression, anxiety, and other brain health issues,” Schwartz said. “We call it brain health because we feel strongly that society needs to take a long look at how we treat these illnesses. You know, we go to different doctors for different things, but these providers don’t always coordinate with one another. Our hope is that the whole person can be treated including one’s brain health issues along with their physical issues because they are all connected and the brain is obviously really, really important. We believe there are better ways that people can get the help they need.”

The Greenfield Swap Meet will be occurring at the Adair County Fairgrounds as well as citywide garage sales during the walk and throughout the weekend. The Brain Health Matters group encourages walkers and participants to support the garage sales and the swap meet.

“If someone is on the walk and sees a great deal on a garage sale item, we urge the walker to check it out and come back and finish the walk, we feel it’s a win-win that this event is happening at the same time, and we are hoping that people get talking about suicide so that people know it’s ok to talk about this stuff. We just want people to know there’s hope, places to go and people to talk to,” Schwartz said. “If we help one person that day and they decide they’re not going to take their life because of this event, that’s a success.”